Page 131 of Choose the Bears

“Phil rang Asher,” Lucas hissed in a low voice, pitched only for our sleuth to hear. Somehow his voice was the only one I could really listen to, not Asher’s. “A bloke from the community brought Phil to the forest, but he managed to get the drop on the courier before anything could be done about that prick.” His meaningful look made clear what he meant. “Stole the guy’s car, wallet and… phone. Phil rang the last number Jesse called?—”

“And got Asher.” I stiffened then, almost able to imagine how that conversation went. My gaze skimmed across everyone’s heads, locking with Asher’s. For just a second, my mate paused in his instructions, but he quickly recovered, forging on.

“And the address to this place. Jesse had it punched into Google Maps so he could come here after… it was done.”

“And now he knows exactly where we are.”

My chest heaved, because it wasn’t hard to see it. Phil leaping up from out of the crowd, just like he had that night in the car park. I pulled free of their grip, one hand going around my now mostly healed one. My fingers found the shadows of the bruises he left and Kyle shook his head when he saw it.

“He won’t lay a fucking finger on you,” he growled, some of the women nearest us shifting and turning around in response. “He won’t. When we built this place, we talked to a lot of contractors that work in highly secure spaces. There’s no way he’s getting in…”

So why were we all clustered in here like mice hiding in the walls as the cats roamed outside?

“Imogen.” Asher appeared before me as everyone started talking at once. Their voices, the sound of a baby’s wail, felt like nails on a chalkboard, but his voice cut through. “I need someone to organise some snacks and drinks. Would you be OK doing that?”

“Yeah, of course.”

My replay came out before I’d even thought about it, but I found myself nodding in confirmation.

“Kyle, stick with Imogen,” Asher ordered.

“I’ll stay with her too,” Lucas replied, stepping closer to me.

“Mate, I need you manning the CCTV feed. I’ll be able to give you some other staff to assist but…”

Lucas pushed his glasses up his nose and then nodded.

“Yeah, right, of course.” Then he turned to me, pressing his head against mine as he pulled me closer. “Stick with Kyle at all times. Promise me that.”

“I promise,” I replied with a weak smile because I had zero intention of doing anything else. If the guys thought this building could be trusted, then I’d stick right here.

“Good.” His lips pressed against my forehead, and I felt the warmth of that mark long after he pulled away. “I’ll see you soon. Phil will get taken away in handcuffs and left to rot in jail until his trial, you’ll see. We just need to get through this…”

And everything we planned, dreamed would come to fruition, that went unsaid, as if voicing it would somehow taunt the gods into snatching it back from us. I squeezed his hand and then stepped back, letting him go.

“We need to go,” Asher told me. “There are reinforcements coming and?—”

“I’m sorry.” He stopped and frowned at my words, peering into my eyes, despite the fact people were calling his name. “I’m sorry. You were right. You could’ve… sorted this situation out and none of this would’ve happened. I’m?—”

“Do not say sorry.” His voice was as taut as a guitar string, ready to be struck. “Don’t. You didn’t want our relationship tainted by another person’s blood.” My eyes met his and it felt like they burned with blue fire. “You were right.” His smile was small, fragile almost, which did not mesh well with what I knew of the man. “In some ways this is perfect. When he tries to force his way in here, the police will arrest him again. Phil will get put away, forever if I’ve got anything to say about it.” His hands went to my arms and they felt like the only points of warmth in the entire room as he rubbed them up and down. “We just need to get through this and then everything we want will be ours. Believe in that.”

Believe in me, that was the unspoken message, and I forced myself to smile back, nodding quickly. One last hurdle, just one and we’d be safe.

“I’ll go and rustle up some snacks,” I said. “There were boxes of chips and biscuits in the store room, and I can make up some urns of tea and coffee.”

“That would be amazing.”

One more forehead kiss and then he was pulling away too, leaving just me and Kyle.

“So we need to brew up a massive batch of coffee?” Kyle kept his tone deliberately light.

“Right this way,” I said, walking out of the gym.

The corridors were quiet,too quiet, that ghostly feeling that big places take on when emptied making me feel unreasonably jumpy. I reached for Kyle’s hand, clinging to it as we walked down the hall towards the kitchen.

“Kyle.” Both of us jumped ten feet when Ginny appeared from around the corner. “Thank god I found one of you. A bunch of people have arrived out the front of the building.”

“That’ll be the be—our families,” Kyle replied, craning his neck to look out past the foyer, but the glass doors were screened off now.

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